LEADERSHIP

SSc Clinical Advisory Board

Patricia Carreira, MD

Dr. Patricia Carreira is Associate Professor of Rheumatology in the University Hospital 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense, Madrid Spain. After her residency and fellowship in Rheumatology in the University Hospital 12 de Octubre, she became interested in scleroderma at the Rheumatology Division of South Carolina, directed by Dr. E. Carwile LeRoy and Dr. Rick M. Silver. Dr. Carreira is a founding member of the EUSTAR (European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group) and INSYNC (International Systemic Sclerosis Inception Cohort Group). She has worked with international scleroderma groups, ESOS (European Scleroderma Observational Study), and SPIN (Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network). Her professional clinical research has focused on epidemiological research centered on autoimmune systemic diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory myopathies, and systemic sclerosis. Dr. Carreira has coauthored more than 200 papers and textbook chapters, mainly related to scleroderma.

John Varga, MD

Dr. John Varga is a rheumatologist, and the Director and founder of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Scleroderma Program. He earned his medical degree at New York University and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Rhode Island Hospital-Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He had a Rheumatology Fellowship at Boston University and was a post-doctoral research fellow of the Arthritis Foundation in the laboratory of Sergio Jimenez at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Varga has served on National Institutes of Health Study Section panels since 1998 and is the director of an NIH-supported translational research program focusing on basic and clinical aspects of scleroderma and the discovery of novel therapies. He is also an elected member of AOA, the Association of American Physicians, and the Henry Kunkel Society. A prominent contributor to scientific journals in his field, Dr. Varga has published over 250 peer-reviews articles, along with 150 reviews and textbook chapters, three books, and over a dozen chapters in Up To Date. He has trained over 20 clinical and research fellows, received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award of the Scleroderma Foundation and was listed in Best Doctors in America for 2017-2018.

Janet Pope, MD

Dr. Janet Pope is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Schulich School of Medicine, London, Ontario, Canada. She is the Division Head in Rheumatology at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, London. Dr. Pope has mentored over 125 research students and trainees and has received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Canadian Rheumatology Association, Rheumatologist of the Year from the Ontario Rheumatology Association, Department of Medicine Research Achievement Award, and the Dean’s Award of Excellence in Research. She has published over 450 peer-reviewed articles, 15 chapters, 500 abstracts and several Cochrane meta-analysis reviews. Her research interests are focused on scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, including outcome measurements, clinical trials and disease manifestations.